U.S. calls planned Thai poll delay to 2016 'unwise'

Reuters Staff

3 Min Read

BANGKOK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A general election to return Thailand to democracy will be held in February 2016 at the earliest, a deputy prime minister said after talks with a U.S. diplomat on Tuesday, a delay Washington later called “unwise and unjustified.”

The military government, established after a May 22 coup, said last month an election planned for late 2015 would be delayed until 2016, giving more time for reforms which the military says should bring stability after a decade of factional rivalry.

“I told the U.S. charge d‘affaires today elections will take place at the earliest in February 2016,” Wisanu told reporters.

“But if we have to have a referendum, polls could be delayed by a further three months,” he said, referring to a possible plebiscite on a new constitution.

The United States, a long-time ally of Thailand, expressed dismay at the coup and froze $4.7 million of security-related assistance, canceled high-level engagements, some military exercises and training programs for the military and police.

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said Washington believed Thais should be allowed to choose a democratically elected government “as soon as possible.”

“We ... believe a delay until 2016 would be unwise and unjustified,” the spokesperson added.

The May coup followed months of establishment-backed protests against a populist elected government.

A junta-appointed National Reform Council last week proposed stripping parliament of the power to appoint a prime minister and cabinet.

On Tuesday, a committee appointed to draft a new constitution rejected that recommendation.

A senior Western diplomat said he was not optimistic about the possibility of an election in 2016, fearing Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the army chef who launched the coup, could come up with a justification to delay.

“It is not inconceivable that Prayuth will stay in power for two to three years,” said the diplomat, who declined to be identified.

Questions over the return to democracy come at a time of extreme sensitivity surrounding the monarchy, in particular the issue of succession, which has formed part of the backdrop to the complex national crisis.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 87, is in hospital recovering from gallbladder surgery. The king is regarded as almost divine by many Thais and is widely seen as a unifying figure through years of political unrest.

Reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak in Bangkok and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Robert Birsel and David Gregorio